Abstract. Although
conventional chemotherapies are used to treat patients with
malignancies, damage to normal cells is problematic. Blood-forming bone
marrow cells are the most adversely affected. It is therefore
necessary to find alternative agents that can kill cancer cells but have
minimal effects on normal cells. We investigated the brain cancer
cell-killing activity of a homeopathic medicine, Ruta, isolated from a
plant, Ruta graveolens. We treated human brain cancer and HL-60 leukemia
cells, normal B-lymphoid cells, and murine melanoma cells in vitro
with different concentrations of Ruta in combination with Ca3(PO4)2.
Fifteen patients diagnosed with intracranial tumors were treated with
Ruta 6 and Ca3(PO4)2. Of these 15 patients, 6 of the 7 glioma patients
showed complete regression of tumors. Normal human blood lymphocytes,
B-lymphoid cells, and brain cancer cells treated with Ruta in vitro
were examined for telomere dynamics, mitotic catastrophe, and apoptosis
to understand the possible mechanism of cell-killing, using
conventional and molecular cytogenetic techniques. Both
in vivo and in vitro results showed induction of survival-signaling
pathways in normal lymphocytes and induction of death-signaling
pathways in brain cancer cells. Cancer cell death was initiated by
telomere erosion and completed through mitotic catastrophe events. We
propose that Ruta in combination with Ca3(PO4)2 could be used for
effective treatment of brain cancers, particularlyglioma.